Creekstone Farms Premium Beef producers in Kansas want to test all the beef they process (over 300,000 head per year) for mad cow disease. They have been denied permission by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to purchase the test kits. The USDA has told them that it is illegal for them to purchase the kits and test the beef they process based on the 1913 Virus-Serum-Toxin Act. Creekstone has filed a lawsuit against the USDA and is seeking to reverse the agency's position. Mad cow disease is allegedly transmitted by consumption of infected beef, and is called "new variant Creutzfeldt Jacob Disease" in humans. Europe has had more than 150 people die of this disease. Its gestation may be 40 years and appears to vary with the genetic makeup of the individual. The worst may be yet to come. It is not treatable

and is terminal. The symptoms are very similar to Alzheimer's, except that the time from appearance of clinical symptoms to death is much shorter, usually less than a year. Please contact the USDA and encourage them to allow Creekstone to test the beef they process for BSE. It would also be helpful to e-mail a copy of your letter to your Congress persons and to Creekstone Beef: ctanner@cfpbeef.com.